Russia’s Western Military District will receive an unspecified number of advanced S-400 Triumf and Pantsir-S air defense systems by the end of 2015, the district’s spokesman, Col. Oleg Kochetkov, said Thursday.
“Modern S-400 Triumf long-range air defense systems and Pantsir-S gun-missile air defense systems will be put in service with air defense units of the Western Military District by the end of this year,” Kochetkov said.
The S-400 Triumf (SA-21 Growler) is a Russia’s next-generation anti-aircraft weapon system, carrying three different types of missiles capable of destroying aerial targets at short-to-extremely long range.
The Pantsir-S1 (SA-22 Greyhound) is a Russian short-to-medium range surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery weapon system, which first entered service in 2012 and will to gradually replace the Tunguska self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon.
Russia is currently undergoing a $325-billion rearmament program for a 70-percent modernization in its military’s weaponry by 2020.
